1. Briefly describe the structure of your
program.ArtWORKS! provides lower-income high school
youth with a grounding in business entrepreneurship through the arts,
opportunities to develop marketable skills in the arts, as well as financial and
technical support for post-high school education in an after-school and summer
program.

Goals:

to offer incentives for youth to
remain in school and maintain a successful grade point average;

to provide youth with training in job
skills in the arts that are marketable in the community;

to offer small business experiences
in marketing, customer relations and finances;

to create a safe after-school
environment for high school youth.

ArtWORKS! at Toole

is an inner-city program for high
school youth from eight surrounding neighborhoods housed at 35 East Toole. The
work site provides a "safe haven" for youth who live in high stress inner-city
neighborhoods that have a high prevalence of gangs, school drop-out rates,
criminal and drug activity. Recruited as freshmen or sophomores, a goal of the
program is to build a positive foundation for youth through their high school
years. Youth enter at a training level learning the skills of design,
manufacturing and installation of custom handmade tile. After the initial
training, youth develop business plans and contract with custom home builders to
provide custom designed tile for interior and exterior surfaces. Fifty percent
of the income is commission for youth working on the project and fifty percent
returns to support the program.

ArtWORKS! Painted Furniture,

on the far east
side of Tucson, is a program for high school youth recruited to design
custom painted furniture working out of a storefront in a vacant strip
mall. The work site includes a gallery-showroom and a retail space and is
also considered as an arts incubator to stimulate revitalization of the
area. Once accepted to the program, youth recruited as freshmen and
sophomores, must commit to achieve long-term goals that include grade
point average and graduation from high school. Over their high school
career, youth earn small educational incentives based on skill attainment
and hours of training and fifty percent of the sale of any item they are
commissioned to design and paint, with the other fifty percent returning
to support the program.

2. When was the program created and
why?

ArtWORKS at Toole program of tile
design, manufacturing and installation began in the 1996 summer, and moved into
35 East Toole after extensive renovation of the building that had been vacant
for five years. Funded by a City of Tucson CDBG grant, three youth programs now
share this 15,000 sf building that is in the downtown warehouse district. The
program was created to extend successful seven week summer projects year around
and to provide skills, income to youth from high stress adjoining neighborhoods
with from 35-50% school drop out rates.

ArtWORKS - Painted Furniture began in
1996, with the desire to provide a program similar to Toole to youth on the far
east side of the community. In this part of town there are many vacant stores
and strip malls. Youth are middle to low income, but be identified as "at-risk"
in terms of drug abuse, teen age pregnancy, and vandalism. This provided a
positive after-school program

3. How do you measure the programís
effectiveness?

Both after-school and summer programs
will be evaluated by identifying the number of youth in the program that
graduate from high school. We want to demonstrate a high percentage of
graduation and enrollment in post high school education by the participants.
Revitalization of the area adjoining each site will demonstrate the
effectiveness of these youth arts programs as generators. Summer programs
provided hourly minimum wage, and these programs provide income based on
production of the youth in the program identifying another source of revenue for
after-school youth.

4. How is the program
financed?

The City of Tucson has provided funding
for both programs. In addition, through action by the state legislature, the
Toole building, owned by the Arizona Department of Transportation, is provided
rent free. Other support includes foundations (Stocker, Wallace, and Behar) and
a grant from the Governorís Office of Drug Prevention. Earned income is a major
support of both these programs. It provides the income for youth in the program
and support for the program.

5. Is the community involved in the
program?

The eight neighborhoods surrounding
Toole recommend teen residents for the program. The tile produced by youth in
ArtWORKS at Toole was commissioned for the entry to the East Side City Hall as
well as by home builders. School counselors in high schools work with the
program providing additional resources needed by youth in the program.

6. What are the major lessons learned
from this program?

It will take one to two years for the
program to become known to teens and to develop a waiting list of youth for the
program. Strong policies and procedures need to be in place for realistic
expectations.